Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 7: The question of <strong>the</strong> futurewaste at source to recover <strong>the</strong> high value items before <strong>the</strong>y are contaminated by <strong>the</strong>mixing of waste and before <strong>the</strong> waste becomes a threat to health. In such initiatives,fees may be charged to households for waste collection or <strong>the</strong> reclaimers may pay forhigh value recyclables such as scrap metal.In poor suburbs and settlements in India and <strong>the</strong> Philippines, pickers have providedcollection and recycling services for <strong>the</strong>ir own neighbourhoods. They have built upunderstandings with both waste producers – shops, restaurants, tourist establishments– and middlemen who rely on <strong>the</strong>m for a constant supply of recyclables [2004].In Cairo, <strong>the</strong> zabbaleens (garbage collectors) collect from wealthy suburbs. Theyrecycle 90% of <strong>the</strong> garbage, returning only 10% to <strong>the</strong> municipal dump. Their list ofrecyclables includes iron, nylon bags, copper, soft plastic, animal bones, aluminium,transparent plastics, cloth, broken and whole glass, paper, cardboard, tin and organics.The zabbaleen also make things to increase <strong>the</strong> value of recycled materials, for exampleworking rags into stuffing for cushions and mattresses and pelletising plastic forresale.In Curitiba, Brazil, <strong>the</strong> left-leaning municipality has supported <strong>the</strong> initiative oforganisations of <strong>the</strong> urban poor to collect at source. Platt argues that this has beencritical to <strong>the</strong> success of recycling in that city and enables <strong>the</strong> expertise and experienceof pickers to create <strong>the</strong> basis for city-wide waste management. “These decentralizedactivities may need only an institutional structure and land for activities such ascomposting to be scaleable to city levels. Indeed, community projects can becomemainstream solutions by being replicated in neighbourhood after neighbourhood”[2004: 30].In some cases, NGOs have driven <strong>the</strong> process of organising pickers. A compostingproject run by <strong>the</strong> Young Women’s Christian Association in Teoville in Paranaque City,<strong>the</strong> Philippines, kicked off with a six month period of engaging with householders tosegregate <strong>the</strong>ir waste. The result was an expanded awareness of environmental issues, aswell as projects for recycling paper, plastics and glass. The Exnora International 108 , withits headquarters in Chennai, India, has supported <strong>the</strong> growth of a social movementwith 300,000 members and over 1,700 Civic Exnoras, many of <strong>the</strong>m with <strong>the</strong>ir ownZero Waste Centres.108 Standing for EXcellent, NOvel & RAdical.<strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong> - groundWork - 187 -